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Really, what this tells us is that there is partisian collusion between senior civil servants, who are supposed to be 'neutral' and the government of John Key to smear opponents.
This interview with security analyst, Paul Buchanan is the best I have heard so far subsequent to Nicky Hager's revelations.
In short, the head of the internal security organisation, the SIS edits his confidentialз notes to make it look as if the Leader of the Opposition is lying, editing out references which show that he was not full briefed and then leaks these notes to a right-wing "hate merchant" blogger while denying the same information to a bona fide journalist making a similar request.
Look at recent events that involve this government and the police and it is not difficult to see that this 'culture of impugnity" goes right across the spectrum.
We can only be thankful that all avenues of a democratic society, such as the judiciary, have not yet been closed off and this report was possible.
Wait for the responses of Slater and PM Key.
This is what I have written on this earlier -
Putting the fox in the hen house in charge of investigating the crime scene - Dirty politics and deep corruption in New Zealand
Dirty
Politics: SIS 'failed' to maintain political neutrality
Former
SIS director Warren Tucker failed to take adequate steps to maintain
the spy agency's political neutrality, Director General of
Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn said this morning in a report
on Dirty Politics allegations.
25
November, 2014
The
inquiry in response to complaint from Green Party co-leader Metiria
Turei looked at the release of politically embarrassing information
about former Opposition Leader Phil Goff's dealings with the SIS to
blogger Cameron Slater.
"The
inquiry found the NZSIS released incomplete, inaccurate and
misleading information in response to Mr Slater's request, and
provided some of the same incorrect information to the Prime Minister
and the Prime Minister's office."
Ms
Gwyn said she found no evidence of political partisanship by the
NZSIS but did find that the NZSIS "failed to take adequate steps
to maintain political neutrality"
Ms
Gwyn said the having released misleading information both to Prime
Minister John Key's office and then to Mr Slater, Dr Tucker "had
a responsibility to take positive steps to correct the
interpretation".
"He
failed to do so."
On
that basis, Ms Gwyn said Mr Goff was owed an apology.
Ms
Gwyn said information about a briefing Mr Goff received from Dr
Tucker about suspected Israeli agents in Christchurch following the
quakes was "not an accurate description of what happened at that
meeting".
However,
while Ms Gwyn said her investigation revealed a staff member in Prime
Minister John Key's office had effectively guided Mr Slater to
request information about the briefing, Mr Key's involvement in the
matter was "very limited" and he had no input into the
decision to release the information.
Current
SIS director Rebecca Kitteridge said she accepted all the
recommendations made by Ms Gwyn.
"In
particular I take my obligation for consultation with the Leader of
the Opposition, and the responsibility for political neutrality
extremely seriously."
Ms
Gwyn found that the information that one of Mr Key's staff members
provided to Slater was not classified and it was understood it was
provided for media purposes.
"...and
there was no breach of confidence towards NZSIS in that disclosure".
Mr
Key this morning welcomed that finding.
"This
inquiry process began after a series of political claims that I had
personally been involved in directing the NZSIS to release
information, or that I had given clearance for this to occur" he
said in a statement.
"These
claims are proven to be entirely incorrect by the Inspector-General's
inquiry.'"
He
also pointed to Ms Gwyn's finding that the decision to release
information and the timing of when to do so were all made by NZSIS,
and that she 'did not find any indication of collusion by or
direction to NZSIS'.
"I
have received an unreserved apology from the NZSIS for providing
incomplete, inaccurate and misleading information to my office",
Mr Key said.
In
a statement this morning, Dr Tucker also said he accepted Ms Gwyn's
findings, "and take full responsibility not only for my
decisions but for the systemic errors made by NZSIS at the time".
He
said Ms Gwyn had noted the matter had been "inherently
difficult" to deal with and the "unique consultation
obligations" of his former role gave rise to "controversial"
questions and that the disclosure of the information about his
discussions with Mr Goff was "unprecedented".
"I
fully accept the finding that my ability to both navigate these
issues and discharge my obligations of political neutrality - of
which I was well-aware - was compromised by my view that my
credibility had been placed in issue concerning events that I could
well-recall.
"In
trying to meet both my obligations under the Official Information Act
and those under the NZSIS Act, I felt caught between a rock and a
hard place.
"As
the Inspector-General has stated, meeting that challenge required
more than 'mechanical even-handedness' and I should have sought
greater assistance.
"I
sincerely regret the errors of judgement this failure caused. As the
report notes, none of these were the result of any 'political
collusion' of any sort, whether on my part or on the part of NZSIS
more widely."
Read
the full report
Mr
Goff this morning said there was legislation against the Government
using SIS as a political football.
"That
broke down because of failures within the SIS and failures within
John Key's own personal office."
Changes
needed to be made both at the SIS and in Mr Key's office, he said.
"I've
had an assurance from the director of the Security Intelligence
Service that this sort of thing will not happen again under her
watch. I've had no such assurance yet from the Prime Minister who's
known about this for quite some time."
Mr
Key said this morning the inquiry had shown that claims he was
directly or indirectly involved in directing the SIS to release
information were "entirely incorrect".
"Instead,
the inquiry finds that the NZSIS disclosed 'incomplete, inaccurate
and misleading information' to my office and me," he said in
statement.
"Further,
the Inspector-General notes that the decision to release information
and the timing of when to do so 'were all made by NZSIS', and that
she 'did not find any indication of collusion by or direction to
NZSIS'."
Mr
Key said he had received an "unreserved" apology from the
SIS for providing misleading information to his office.
He
said the SIS head's apology to Mr Goff was also appropriate.
Mr
Key added: "The inquiry finds that a staff member in my office
provided information to a blogger but it also notes that disclosure
did not breach any obligations of confidentiality."
The
Prime Minister said the events occurred three years ago and much had
changed since then, including systems in place at the SIS
From earlier in the morning
SIS
report set to criticise agency
A
report on the Security Intelligence Service due out tomorrow is
expected to heavily criticise both the spy agency and the Prime
Minister's office
The report by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn, found the release of information to right-wing blogger Cameron Slater under the Official Information Act had been incomplete and unprofessional.
The
investigation was initiated after Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics
suggested the SIS had been used for political purposes to attack the
then Labour Party leader, Phil Goff.
It
related to a political argument in 2011 when Mr Goff said he had not
been briefed about alleged Israeli spies being caught up in the
February earthquake.
Prime
Minister John Key said he had, and was supported by the then SIS
director Warren Tucker.
Dr
Tucker's briefing notes were then released in a matter of days after
Cameron Slater made a request for them.
They
appeared to confirm Mr Goff had been briefed on the matter.
But
the investigation found not all the relevant information was
released.
There
was, apparently, a note signed by Mr Goff and Dr Tucker which
confirmed there was no briefing on the Israeli spies.
Radio
New Zealand has also been told the report shows that Dr Tucker
regularly briefed Mr Key's then deputy chief of staff, Phil de Joux.
When
the political squabble about the Israeli spies became public Mr de
Joux apparently told Jason Ede the office needed to get Dr Tucker's
briefing note released under the Official Information Act.
The
report apparently showed that Mr Slater was on the phone to Mr Ede as
he filed the OIA request.
Those
findings appear to confirm much of what was in Dirty Politics.
The
book said Mr Ede was used to pass on information to Mr Slater, who
then used it to mount attacks against the Government's political
foes.
The
report will be released at 10am tomorrow and Mr Goff was to receive
an apology from the new director of the SIS, Rebecca Kitteridge.
It
will come on the day that the Government introduces the Countering
Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill, which will give the SIS much
greater powers than it has at the moment.
Putting
the fox in the hen house in charge of investigating the crime
scene - Dirty politics and deep corruption in New Zealand
New
Zealanders sleepwalk into fascism - Corporatism is the new fascism
PHIL
GOFF SAYS HE'S VINDICATED AFTER 3 YEARS
Listen
to Phil Goff on radio with Sean Plunkett HERE
No doubt Cameron Slater will follow....
Now the Slug comes out to defend himself and il Duce continues lying.
The one most guilty was not even required to appear under oath.
Listen to podcast HERE
00:16
08:28
Dirty
Politics: John Key won't apologise to Goff
26
November, 2014
Prime
Minister John Key says he will not offer an apology to Labour's Phil
Goff and is defending his office against any claims of wrongdoing
over the involvement in the OIA request by Whaleoil blogger Cam
Slater to SIS head Warren Tucker.
A
report on Dirty Politics allegations released this morning found
former SIS director Warren Tucker failed to take adequate steps to
maintain the spy agency's political neutrality.
Speaking
soon after the report's release this morning, Mr Key said the
Inspector General's report had cleared his office of any wrongdoing
and no apology was necessary.
"The
report makes it absolutely crystal clear that my office did nothing
that was either unprofessional or breached any of the requirements on
them."
He
also countered Labour's accusations he was using SIS information for
political purposes, accusing Labour of leaking selected parts of the
Inspector General's report to the media yesterday in advance of its
release.
"Yesterday
I strongly suspect that the Labour Party did exactly that by leaking
this report. The only reason they would have breached the
confidentiality agreement and leaked the report 24 hours prior to its
release is they know that the very strong allegations they made about
my personal involvement weren't stacked up in the report and they
were trying to get their own spin on it."
He
did not believe the report had cast an unsavoury light on his office.
"It
doesn't at all. It says they were fully entitled to disclose any
information that they did. I would strongly say it's standard
practice for either political advisors or politicians to talk to the
media."
His
chief of staff, Wayne Eagleson, had not offered to resign and Mr Key
said he had no reason to.
He
said the processes around the release of the information were all
handled by the SIS.he report raised concern about former staffer
Jason Ede's use of personal email accounts for official work and Mr
Key all staff had been instructed not to use personal accounts.
"That's
been the case for some time now."
The
inquiry in response to complaint from Green Party co-leader Metiria
Turei looked at the release of politically embarrassing information
about former Opposition Leader Phil Goff's dealings with the SIS to
blogger Cameron Slater.
Inspector
General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn said this morning
the inquiry found the NZSIS released "incomplete, inaccurate and
misleading information in response to Mr Slater's request, and
provided some of the same incorrect information to the Prime Minister
and the Prime Minister's office".
Inspector
General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn at the release of
the report this morning. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Ms
Gwyn said she found no evidence of political partisanship by the
NZSIS but did find that the NZSIS "failed to take adequate steps
to maintain political neutrality".
Ms
Gwyn said the having released misleading information both to Prime
Minister John Key's office and then to Mr Slater, Dr Tucker "had
a responsibility to take positive steps to correct the
interpretation".
"He
failed to do so."
On
that basis, Ms Gwyn said Mr Goff was owed an apology.
Ms
Gwyn said information about a briefing Mr Goff received from Dr
Tucker about suspected Israeli agents in Christchurch following the
quakes was "not an accurate description of what happened at that
meeting".
However,
while Ms Gwyn said her investigation revealed a staff member in Prime
Minister John Key's office had effectively guided Mr Slater to
request information about the briefing, Mr Key's involvement in the
matter was "very limited" and he had no input into the
decision to release the information.
Former
Opposition Leader Phil Goff. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Current
SIS director Rebecca Kitteridge said she accepted all the
recommendations made by Ms Gwyn.
"In
particular I take my obligation for consultation with the Leader of
the Opposition, and the responsibility for political neutrality
extremely seriously."
Ms
Gwyn found that the information that one of Mr Key's staff members
provided to Slater was not classified and it was understood it was
provided for media purposes.
"...and
there was no breach of confidence towards NZSIS in that disclosure".
Prime
Minister John Key this morning welcomed that finding.
"This
inquiry process began after a series of political claims that I had
personally been involved in directing the NZSIS to release
information, or that I had given clearance for this to occur,"
he said in a statement.
"These
claims are proven to be entirely incorrect by the Inspector-General's
inquiry.'"
He
also pointed to Ms Gwyn's finding that the decision to release
information and the timing of when to do so were all made by NZSIS,
and that she "did not find any indication of collusion by or
direction to NZSIS".
"I
have received an unreserved apology from the NZSIS for providing
incomplete, inaccurate and misleading information to my office",
Mr Key said.
He
said the SIS head's apology to Mr Goff was also appropriate.
Mr
Key added: "The inquiry finds that a staff member in my office
provided information to a blogger but it also notes that disclosure
did not breach any obligations of confidentiality."
The
Prime Minister said the events occurred three years ago and much had
changed since then, including systems in place at the SIS.
Former SIS director Warren Tucker. Photo / NZPA
In
a statement this morning, Dr Tucker also said he accepted Ms Gwyn's
findings, "and take full responsibility not only for my
decisions but for the systemic errors made by NZSIS at the time".
He
said Ms Gwyn had noted the matter had been "inherently
difficult" to deal with and the "unique consultation
obligations" of his former role gave rise to "controversial"
questions and that the disclosure of the information about his
discussions with Mr Goff was "unprecedented".
"I
fully accept the finding that my ability to both navigate these
issues and discharge my obligations of political neutrality - of
which I was well-aware - was compromised by my view that my
credibility had been placed in issue concerning events that I could
well-recall.
"In
trying to meet both my obligations under the Official Information Act
and those under the NZSIS Act, I felt caught between a rock and a
hard place.
"As
the Inspector-General has stated, meeting that challenge required
more than 'mechanical even-handedness' and I should have sought
greater assistance.
"I
sincerely regret the errors of judgement this failure caused. As the
report notes, none of these were the result of any 'political
collusion' of any sort, whether on my part or on the part of NZSIS
more widely."
Mr
Goff this morning said there was legislation against the Government
using SIS as a political football.
"That
broke down because of failures within the SIS and failures within
John Key's own personal office."
Changes
needed to be made both at the SIS and in Mr Key's office, he said.
"I've
had an assurance from the director of the Security Intelligence
Service that this sort of thing will not happen again under her
watch. I've had no such assurance yet from the Prime Minister who's
known about this for quite some time."
Mr
Goff also said the report was "a sad and damning indictment"
on Dr Tucker and highlighted a lack of professionalism on his part.
"He
has now left the Service, and I accept the apology given to me this
morning by the new Director Rebecca Kitteridge who played no part in
this affair."
Mr
Goff said the report demanded accountability by Mr Key for the
actions of his office,
"for
which - at the very least - he failed to exercise oversight and in
all likelihood knew about and failed to rein in".
"The
actions of two of his staff, his deputy chief of staff Phil de Joux
and his senior adviser Jason Ede politicised the SIS and broke rules
about confidentiality and political neutrality.'"
Mr
de Joux was the Dr Tucker's point of contact in Mr Key's office and
Mr Ede was the political advisor with links to Slater.
Mr
Goff said Mr Key was "fully aware of Mr Ede's political role,
his regular contact with Whaleoil and the sleaze and dirty politics
that were employed through Whale Oil on an ongoing basis. Mr Key has
stated before that his staff act for him".
Mr
Goff said Mr Key was expecting Labour to cooperate with the
Government on a security and intelligence bill this week in line with
the long standing bi-partisan approach on issues that relate to the
security of New Zealand.
"Indeed
that is the approach that Labour has always tried to take. It is
however hypocritical that while calling for bi-partisanship, Mr Key
deliberately allowed the politicisation of the SIS by his staff, in a
way that fundamentally undermines its political neutrality."
Mr
Goff said that at the time of the incident, before information was
released to Slater he had reached an agreement with Dr Tucker on how
they could reconcile their differing public statements on the issue.
However he said Dr Tucker went on to ignore that agreement in his
actions.
He
said Mr Key had repeatedly misled the public that his office had
nothing to do with the release of the information to Slater.
However
Ms Gwyn's report showed that his own claims and those made by Nicky
Hager in his Dirty Politics book were "absolutely right".
''I
simply do not believe John Key when he says he knew nothing about
this.''
Mr
Goff said Mr Key should accept responsibility for his office's
involvement in the affair or resign.
Labour
Leader Andrew Little said he was confident after meeting Ms
Kitteridge yesterday that she would maintain the service's political
neutrality in the future.
How do we petition for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into this ?
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